Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Natural gas supplier to build Branson-Hollister pipeline

Mountain Grove-based Southern Missouri Natural Gas will start the first phase of its service to the Branson-Hollister area this fall with the construction of a 31-mile pipeline to be built from Aurora.

A third-party contractor will build the high-pressure, steel pipeline to Branson, according to SMNG General Manager Michael Lumby.

From there, SMNG will take over construction of the distribution pipeline with plans to offer utility service to the area's larger commercial consumers as early as February.

Service to smaller commercial and residential users would follow.

Among SMNG's potential list of large commercial users are College of the Ozarks, Skaggs Regional Medical Center, Silver Dollar City and Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa and Convention Center, each of which has signed a nonbinding letter of intent for utility service, Lumby said.

Energy options

Chateau on the Lake is one of the first in line for available service, and resort General Manager Stephen Marshall said there could be a significant reduction of fuel costs with natural gas.

"It gives us a choice whether we purchase propane or natural gas," he said. "Competition is always a good thing. As the operator of a hotel, we welcome it."

Marshall said the resort currently uses two 18,000-gallon propane tanks, plus a smaller one for everything from heating water for showers and laundry to heating restaurant stoves. He estimated that after the retrofitting of equipment, including the hotel's boilers, moving to natural gas could save the hotel as much as 34 percent in fuel costs.

Although no specific figures were available from College of the Ozarks, Dean of Administration Marvin Schoenecke called the possible switchover from No. 2 diesel to natural gas "a significant savings for us." Schoenecke said the two central boilers providing heat, hot water and steam to the campus would need little retrofitting for natural gas service.

"We were looking ahead a dozen years ago," Schoenecke said. "Natural gas, hopefully, is the long-term solution to provide cheaper, cleaner energy."

Branson Public Works Director Larry VanGilder said natural gas also would help the city save utility costs for a planned biosolids project. He said natural gas was much more efficient than other energy sources for drying wet sludge into dry soil, saving the city as much as 50 percent on fuel costs.

In June, SMNG was granted its full certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Missouri Public Service Commission to cover the Branson and Hollister communities.

In July 2007, Branson's Board of Aldermen approved a franchise agreement with SMNG that stipulates the natural gas company would pay the city 2 percent of sales in its second year of operations there and 5 percent of sales in the third year, according to city Public Information Director Jerry Adams. There is no city franchise fee in the first year, Adams said.

In July, Hollister's Board of Aldermen granted a resolution to work with SMNG as a franchise utility.

City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss said Hollister's franchise fee from SMNG would be 5 percent of sales beginning with the first year of operation.

About SMNG

SMNG was founded in May 1995 as a privately-owned utility under the name Southern Missouri Gas Co. LP.

The company supplies natural gas to more than 8,000 residential customers in 12 franchised communities between Rogersville and West Plains along the corridors of U.S. highways 60 and 63, as well as Marshfield to the north and Ava to the south, according to www.smng.biz.

It owns and operates 400 miles of natural gas pipelines, and Lumby said SMNG plans to break ground this fall on another 32-mile pipeline from Marshfield to Lebanon.

He said the utility also has franchise agreements with Reeds Spring, Kimberling City and Highlandville, although there are no immediate plans to service those areas.

Branson West City Administrator Ken Smith said city aldermen voted Aug. 12 to put the franchise agreement issue with SMNG on the Nov. 4 ballot.

As a supplier/distributor, SMNG buys its fuel on the open market from such companies as Conoco, BP, Phillips and One Oaks in Texas and Oklahoma.